Over his career at the University of Rochester, Ryan Algier has reached numerous lofty goals. Now, he has attained another one. He has been elected as a Division III First Team Academic All-American for men's basketball. Voting is conducted by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
He is the seventh men's basketball player from Rochester to attain the Academic All-America honor and the first one to receive First Team honors. Additionally, he is the first player in 10 years to be honored in this manner. Michael Labanowski was a Second Team selection by CoSIDA in 2011.

Algier (Fairport, NY/Fairport HS) earned three post-season All-America awards and two pre-season All-America selections over the past two seasons. This year in a shortened six-game season, he led Rochester in multiple statistical categories, including scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, and field goal percentage. He was named as the D3hoops.com East/Northeast Regional Player of the Year and First Team All-Region. D3hoops.com named him a Second Team All-American. He was a pre-season All-America choice by DIIINews.com and the United States Basketball Writers Association.
 
Last year, he was a Third Team All-America selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), First Team All-Region by that group, First Team All-University Athletic Association, and Second Team All-Region by D3hoops.com.
 
His academic achievements are impressive as well. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the renowned international honor society, in April. Last fall, he was selected as a Lysle "Spike" Garnish Scholar-Athlete, signifying him as one of the top 10 senior student-athletes.
 
In early May, he was chosen as the winner of the Louis Alexander Alumni Award presented by the Department of Athletics & Recreation. The award is presented annually to a male member of the senior class who has made an outstanding contribution to the life of The College through his significant achievements in athletic and general student activities; and whose character and leadership qualities have been a wholesome influence on his fellow students. Louis Alexander served as both teacher and coach at the University for 35 years. He coached unbeaten teams in men's basketball and baseball. From 1945 until his retirement, he served as Chairman of Physical Education and Director of Athletics. The basketball arena, the Palestra, was dedicated in his name on December 6, 1968. He was an inaugural inductee into the University's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992.
 
Algier was a double major in data science and business. He was a Teaching Assistant last fall for a data science class titled Data Mining. As a junior, he was a Provost's Circle Scholar, signifying the top junior student-athletes.
 
He completed a research-based project for the Associate Vice Provost for Career Education Initiatives and the Associate Dean of the College involving cleaning and merging data from over 10 sources to identify a knowledge base for student's summer involvements. He provided preliminary analysis of trends and gaps for better allocation of Career Center Resources.
 
Earlier this spring, he was elected as a First Team Academic All-District honoree for men's basketball by the College Sports Information Directors of America. He advanced to the national ballot for consideration as an Academic All-American. This is the second consecutive year that he reached the CoSIDA national ballot.